Prep Football: Bulldogs suffer setback to Mt. Carmel

It wasn’t the kind of opening performance head coach Jason Roper and the Harrisburg Bulldogs had hoped for on the gridiron. Allowing big plays, a lack of offense and multiple turnovers turned out to be a bad recipe in Harrisburg’s 46-12 season opening loss to Mount Carmel Friday night at Taylor Field.

Dominating time of possession, the Golden Aces jumped in front with a pair of first quarter touchdowns. Senior Tony Miller ran in a score from one-yard out midway through the opening stanza, and that was followed up four minutes later when Sean D. Flickinger ran in a 2-yard score.

Mount Carmel was able to put even more distance between itself and HHS in the final seconds of the first half.

Junior quarterback Pete Smith found freshman wideout Jackson Marcotte on a 22-yard scoring play with a little over three seconds left in the half.

Mount Carmel recovered the ensuing kickoff which gave Smith and the Aces another shot to score before the break. Smith then connected with Justin Spear on a 35-yard pattern as time expired to extend Mount Carmel’s lead to 27-0 at halftime.

“We kind of knew coming in that we’re inexperienced and I think it showed,” said Harrisburg coach Jason Roper. “They have some seniors who played a lot of games last year, and I think the experience part of it just kind of got us. Right there before the half with the lack of experience, I think we just fell apart and gave up two scores that were just heartbreaking.”

Sophomore Daxton Peach led the ground attack for the Aces with 109 yards on 16 carries and three touchdowns. As a team, Mount Carmel racked up just shy of 350 yards on the ground while Smith passed for another 96 yards.

Flickinger finished with 69 yards on 11 carries before leaving midway through the second quarter with an ankle injury.

Corbin Crim pulled HHS to within 34-6 with his 13-yard run late in the third quarter. Junior Kane Carrigan then capped off Harrisburg’s scoring with a 25-yard run in the final minutes.

As a team, Harrisburg failed to complete a pass and averaged a little over four yards per carry on the ground.

Sean Crisenbery and Tylor Marler combined for over 100 yards rushing for HHS.

The first half took nearly 90 minutes to complete after a serious leg injury to Harrisburg junior defensive back Bryce Emery delayed things less than four minutes into the season.

Defensively, the Bulldogs forced three fumbles. Junior Lucian Hicks was credited for recovering two of those.

The Bulldogs won’t return home until late September for a Homecoming test with Massac County in Week 5. A three-game road trip starts at Van Metre Field Friday in Du Quoin.

Page 2 of 2 - “Du Quoin’s always been good and they’re going to come out and try to get a win in the same situation we are in,” said Roper. “Then we go to Marion which will be another tough challenge for our kids, and then we go to Frankfort so next week is going to be really crucial. We’re going to have to come out and make adjustments.”